


The Time Lenore Found A Spider With One Broken Leg

by BakedTofu



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Fluff, Other, Pre-Canon, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakedTofu/pseuds/BakedTofu
Summary: The story of the time Lenore found a spider with one broken leg and she tore the castle apart looking for something small enough to make a splint out of.
Relationships: Lenore & The Spider With One Broken Leg (Castlevania)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 13





	The Time Lenore Found A Spider With One Broken Leg

As Lenore scanned the library shelves in search of one particular book, she noticed a small movement in her peripheral vision. When she turned to focus her attention on it she found the source of the movement, a spider. 

_“How adorable!”_ she thought to herself. Spiders had the cutest little eyes, and little fangs, and tiny long legs. They were practically furry baby vampires. 

“Hello there, little one.” she said kindly, “Guarding our precious books from silverfish?” 

The spider, being a spider, said nothing in response. 

When Lenore took a step towards them they started scampering away. That’s when Lenore noticed something was off. The spider could move well enough, but one leg looked mangled up and wasn’t working. It was just being dragged along. 

“You’re hurt…” Lenore grew concerned. “How did this happen, baby?” 

It pained her to see the spider with such a horrible looking injury. She decided in an instant she’d fix them. No one else would give this poor spider a second thought. She was the only chance they had. They needed her now. 

Lenore reached out to try and scoop the little spider up in her hands but they scampered away whenever she got too close. 

“Now, now. There’s no need to run away. I’m going to help you.” 

The spider continued to evade Lenore. 

“No, baby!” Lenore became increasingly frantic, “I’m trying to help you!” she kept placing her hands in front of the spider, hoping they would walk onto one of them, “I know that has to hurt!! I’m going to make it better! You can’t expect to go on like this!” What if a wandering rodent or a bird found them? What if a larger bug attacked them? Lenore wouldn’t let that happen, “I’m going to help you! You need to come with me!!” 

With a little more time and effort, she finally managed to scoop the spider up into her hands. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” 

Lenore had also somehow come to the conclusion that this particular spider was a girl. 

She closed her hands together to keep her safely contained. “There. Good girl.” she brought her hands closer to her face and whispered as she walked out, “Don’t fret now. Mommy’s going to take good care of you.” 

**...**

On the way back to her room Lenore procured a jar to keep the little spider, now dubbed Arachne, in for the time being. But this wouldn’t be a suitable home for her extended recovery. According to Lenore’s standards it was far too small to be considered humane. She’d have a proper spacious terrarium made for her soon enough, but first there was the more pressing matter of that broken leg. It needed a splint. But not just _anything_ could be used as a splint. Sure, she could file down a piece of wood, but what if it splintered and injured Arachne further? Most little pieces of metal would be too heavy for her. The splint needed to be both light and sturdy, but also small enough for someone Arachne’s size. 

Lenore began to search through her own belongings first. She searched through her jewelry, trinkets, clothing, anything that might have some piece of it that could be removed and make a tiny splint. She began to panic a little the longer she searched without finding anything suitable. Lenore didn’t think it would be so difficult. In the end her room yielded nothing. 

She left her quarters in a huff and called the guards posted in the hall. They were ordered to assist in her search for a tiny splint. 

Upon hearing the orders, the two guards exchanged glances with each other. Both wondered if Lenore had gone insane, but they knew they had no right to question her orders, so they assisted in her search. 

Soon, Lenore had a good portion of the guards and other castle staff tearing apart the castle with her. 

Periodically Lenore was presented with objects that might work, but none worked. She berated every failure in her increasingly anxious state. 

_“Have you felt the sharp edge on this? What if it scratches her?!”_

_“This isn’t small enough! She’s not a tarantula!”_

_“No! This could easily splinter and hurt her!”_

**...**

Eventually, the other members of the ruling council got tired of hearing Lenore’s outbursts and half the castle running around through several walls over the course of the night. They decided to see what the source of the commotion was. 

“Lenore,” Carmilla found her sister disheveled and rummaging through a bureau, “I can hear you through several walls. What’s all of this about?” 

Lenore continued her search. “I need a tiny splint.” She said without as much as turning to look at Carmilla. Lenore’s concentration would not be broken. 

“What in the hell do you need a tiny splint for?” 

“Aggggh!” Lenore groaned in frustration as yet another drawer turned out to be fruitless. Now she turned to address her sister briefly before moving on to the next drawer, “For a spider.” 

“Half the castle is in a frenzied search for a bloody spider?!” 

“She has a broken leg!” 

“Just put the thing out of its misery.”

“I will not!” she glared at Carmilla, “I’m going to fix her!’ 

“Oh my god, you’re not joking.” Carmilla started laughing. 

Lenore paused her search to speak more directly to Carmilla once more, “If you aren’t going to help-” 

“What’s this about a spider?” Morana asked as she approached the scene with her wife. 

“She’s looking for a _tiny_ splint,” Carmilla laughed, “for a _tiny_ broken leg.” 

“You’re serious?” Striga asked. 

“Lenore,” Morana said, “you do know spiders can regrow legs?” 

“… yes.” Lenore averted her gaze. “Of course I knew that.” She covered up her lie by continuing to rummage through yet another drawer. 

“Then why all of this fuss over a splint? It will moult and be fine.” 

“Arachne is just supposed to suffer with a broken leg until her next moult?!” 

“It’s just a spider.” Striga added. 

“Oh my god, she gave it a name.” Carmilla continued laughing. 

“Yes, I gave **_her_ ** a name!” 

“You named the spider  _ spider _ ?” Morana asked. (A/N: Arachne (αράχνη) is the Greek word for spider.) 

“I think it’s cute!” 

Morana and Striga exchanged concerned glances with each other before they started chuckling. 

Realizing her sisters would be of no real help, Lenore left in a huff to search somewhere else. 

**…**

Several hours later Lenore’s search finally came to an end. One of Castle Styria’s resident magicians presented Lenore with a very small, yet exceptionally light and sturdy piece of smooth metal. He wasn’t much taller than Lenore, but he was quite muscular in spite of his age. His right arm was significantly larger than his left as a result of working so long as a smith. 

“I hope this will work,” he said as he watched Lenore inspect the contents of the tiny box he presented her with. “It took several incantations before I could make it light enough.” 

“This is perfect,” Lenore smiled and finally began to relax. “You must let me reward you. Is there anything Arachne’s uncle would like?” 

The blacksmith magician chucked and twitched, “So I’m an uncle now?” he peered into the jar that currently held Arachne. “There’s no need. It was nice enough to have a break from the monotony of smithing magical armor, and it’s a relief to see you at ease again.” 

“Nonsense. You must want something.” 

“Well, if you insist... I want some titanium to make new feet, and I want a red cabbage.”

**...**

In the weeks and months that followed, Arachne received a spacious terrarium emblazoned with gold trimmings. It took up the better portion of one of Lenore’s bedroom’s corners. There was soft soil she could dig in if she liked, and hardy plants she could use as anchors for her weaving. Lenore personally brought her spring water to drink and hand fed her baby cockroaches while waiting for her next moult. 

Initially her sisters teased her about how frantic she’d been and how ridiculous having a pet spider in her room was, but after she pulled off a massively profitable trade deal with Venice they eased up. Morana and Striga dropped it completely, and Carmilla was considerably less harsh about it. Lenore’s new fixation on this spider clearly wasn’t affecting her abilities as a diplomat, and no harm had been done. It was strange that she insisted on taking her “baby girl” with her to council meetings every so often, but this was just how Lenore was sometimes. At least it made things around the castle a little interesting. 

With Arachne’s next moult came a fully healed leg. Just as good as new.

Lenore watched her tiny fangs cutely dig into another baby cockroach.

“Good girl.” 

Arachne always looked so sweet when she was feeding. Happily standing there while her prey hopelessly struggled to escape. She was just like a vampire baby.

Now that her leg was all healed up, Lenore supposed little Arachne could be released and have hope of surviving on her own. But what if she got hurt again? What if a wandering bird or rodent thought she’d make a nice meal and attacked her? What if she missed her adoptive mother lovingly hand feeding her baby cockroaches? Releasing her would be cruel abandonment. She was much better off here, as a spoiled pet. Where she had a comfortable life. Where she was cared for. Where she was safe. 

Lenore would have liked to sire Arachne. It might have been nice to keep this little baby forever. If only she wasn’t far too small for that to be a possibility. The rest of her mortal little spider life would have to do. 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired in part by this [story](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-31/huntsman-hero-awarded-by-peta-australia/12507240?fbclid=IwAR0eIB2c2_TVwrmShghVBAtw-0pUU8U2ChKJqk4Mmn7ZSSHhHno5zwSJoJc) I read about a woman taking care of a spider that lost 6 of their legs. You can see the spider's progress on her IG @peggy.the.2leggy 
> 
> If you want to find me on twitter to say hi and see me throw Castlevania headcannons around I'm [@tofudomination](https://twitter.com/TofuDomination) over there (18+ only pls). 
> 
> And as a side note, if anyone is interested in civil discussion about the Castlevania animated series (plot/lore/etc. without people complaining about how the animated series is different from the games), you can join the [matrix chat](https://app.element.io/#/room/#castlevanianetflix:matrix.org) You can use Element or any other matrix client.


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